The Forbidden Daughter
by CloverHeart609
Summary: Callie Yearly is just another teenage girl. Or so she thinks. When she finds out her godly parent almost every god hates her and campers keep away for their safety. Full summary inside. Currently on semi-hiatus. On Hiatus.
1. My New Life

**Hi there peoples! Clover here and this is The Forbidden Daughter! I always feel like I'm on a talk show when I do that. Anyways this story follows Callie Yearly as she goes on a dangerous quest and discovers who she is. Wow, that just made it sound like every other story. To be honest, I don't know. I literally just wrote this last night on a random inpluse and decided to post this to see if anyone liked it. Anyways here's the full summary and then the story.**

**Callie Yearly is just your regular teenage girl. Or so she thinks. ****When Callie's father dies in a car wreak, she goes to live with her uncle and his family, as her mother left when she was a baby. She finds the Blofis/Jackson family isn't as normal as they seem, as they get attacked by a monster her first day in New York. Soon she's taken to a camp for other demi-gods like her by her cousin, out who turns out to be quite famous at camp. Just as she begins to fit in, her godly parent is revealed and almost the whole camps becomes afraid of her. She has to prove herself if she ever wants to be fully safe again.**

I took a deep breath as Ms. Lynn, the social services lady, knocked on the door of the Blofis family apartment. To think it was only a week ago that my father died in a violent car crash.

He was all I'd had left since my mother had left my father before I was born. When I was a month-ish old she left me on the doorstep like some orphan kid in a movie. So I had grown up with my gunsmith father in South Carolina, wondering if my mother knew I existed.

Since my father was dead and no one knew who my mother was or where she was, I was being sent to live with my uncle and his family.

I had seen my Uncle Paul plenty of times when I was young, but when he moved to New York 4 years ago we lost touch. I had never met my Aunt Sally or my cousin, Percy. I had seen pictures of them online, but never met them or talked to them. At the moment I was actually kinda mad at them because none of them had shown up at my father's funeral due to 'family issues'.

The door opened to reveal Uncle Paul. He looked mostly the same, though his pepper-colored hair had more grey speckles in it and he had gained a bit of weight.

"Callista! It's good to see you again." I tried not to wince at my full first name, which I haven't used since I was 10, as he smiled down at me. He pulled me into a hug and I could see Ms. Lynn smiling at us. She thought I was going to fit in right away because of this small gesture.

"Hi, Uncle Paul. It's good to see you too. I go by Callie now, though." I said as I pulled out of the hug and took a small, unnoticeable glance into the apartment. I couldn't see much, other than a wall and a woman's shadow getting closer to the door.

"Ahh," As he let the noise escape the door pulled open again to reveal a brunette woman, who I assumed was Aunt Sally. She immediately smiled when she saw me and her blue eyes twinkled.

"Hello, you must be Callista." She said, continuing to smile, an undeniable happiness in her eyes making me feel a bit strange.

"Callie, nice to meet you." I said as she too hugged me. It was kind of awkward, hugging someone you'd never met before.

"Percy!" She called down the hall as Uncle Paul ushered Ms. Lynn and I inside the apartment. "Percy, Callie's here!"

"Just a minute mom!" Was the reply as we sat down on separate couches, Uncle Paul and Aunt Sallie sitting across from me and Ms. Lynn. The adults began discussing the weather and whether or not the apartment was big enough for the four of us. I blocked out most of the conversation and would occasionally perk up when my name was mentioned.

After a while I heard footsteps approaching from down the hallway. A few seconds a teenager with black hair entered the living room and sat down in-between my aunt and uncle.

"Ah, Percy. This is Callie," He smiled at me and I immediately held out my hand to avoid hugging him, because that would be _very_ awkward- I'd had just about enough awkward that night. He shook it and turned to Ms. Lynn to shake her hand. "And this is Ms. Lynn."

"Nice to meet you." He said to us with sparkling sea green eyes.

"Percy, while we're finishing up here can you show Callie to her room?" Aunt Sally asked as she set down the notepad she'd been writing in.

"Sure, come on cuz." I stood and he picked up two of my three bags. I followed him down the hall with my third bag, staring at the floor the whole time. We stopped in front of a door and when he didn't open it, I looked up for the first time. He was staring at me expectantly, and I remembered that his hands were full. I pushed open the door and walked in first.

The room was pretty small, but it was, after all, an inner-city apartment. I couldn't expect much for size; at least I had my own room. The walls were painted a light green and the floor was a beige color. There was a square cleaner than the surrounding area where a picture had obvious once hung on one of the walls. A twin sized box spring and mattress and a dresser stood next to each other and barely fit against the far wall. A desk was next to the door.

"Sorry it's so small and, uh, used looking. It was my mom's office, but she moved into the living room." Percy set my bags down, walked over to the clean square on the wall, and put his hand in the middle of it. "We tried like Hades to scrub this off, I swear." He said with a grin, to which I couldn't help but grin too. I tried not to notice that he'd said 'Hades'. I was really not in any sort of mood to be talking about religion at the time, with my dad dying only a week ago- especially farfetched ones no one believes in.

He gave me a quizzically look and asked "You do talk, right?". I felt annoyed and humored at the same time.

"Yes, I talk."

And then, of course, there was an awkward silence. Fortunately though, it was quickly broken by Aunt Sally calling 'Hey Perce, come here a minute!". Percy said a quick goodnight and left me alone with my thoughts.

I took another glance around the room before sitting down on the edge of the bed. So this was my life now. Living in my uncle's apartment with family members I had never before met. Fabulous.

**So what do you think? I know it's pretty short, but they get longer in a bit. There will be another one up later today, so see you then!**

**~Clover**

**P.S. This takes place as if Heros of Olympus never happened. There is only Greeks and they know nothing of the Romans.**


	2. First Monster

I walked into the kitchen at exactly 7:02 a.m. the next morning, fully dressed in light wash skinny jeans, a OneRepublic t-shirt and my black converse. My auburn hair was tied in a side braid and I had on my usual tiny dab of make-up.

I had thought I was the only person up until I saw Aunt Sally cooking something on the stove. Why hadn't I smelled her cooking?

"Good morning Aunt Sally." I said, the words feeling foreign on my tongue.

"Good morning Callie." She gave me a quick smile over her shoulder and returned the stove. A loud sizzle promptly followed.

I, with nothing else to do, wandered around the house for a bit. It was a pretty big apartment, I suppose, but it still was only about half the size of my house back in South Carolina. My room was next to Percy's, two doors down from the bathroom, and across the hall from Paul and Sally's. The living room and kitchen-dining room (they were practically combined) spread after the end of the hall. There was a desk with various boxes packed next to it in the living room; I was assuming it was Sally's.

"Breakfast is ready everyone!" Aunt Sally called just as I was considering going outside to explore the complex.

I came to the dining room area of the kitchen and stood next to the table, unsure of where everyone sat.

"Your seat's here, sweetie." Sally said as she took a seat at the square table and patted the seat next to her. She smiled a kind smile at me and I returned it. We talked for a minute or two, waiting for the boys to come. She was surprisingly easy to talk to.

Uncle Paul came in a few minutes later pajama-clad, his hair uncombed and a patch of stubble growing on his chin. He sat down as Percy came in and groggily wished us both good morning. Once Percy was seated breakfast began. It was quiet other than the sound of silverware on plate.

"So Callie," Uncle Paul started. "I was thinking we'd show you around the city today. That work with you?"

"Yeah, that sounds great." I nodded and still didn't look up from my plate. The big, giant, absolutely humongous city I now called my home. That's going to take some getting used to, since I came from a small beach town.

After breakfast we headed for Central Park. Important buildings were pointed out along the way, but nothing stuck. The big buildings that surrounded me scared me a bit, but nothing that I couldn't keep hidden. The severely polluted air gave me a headache and all the noise was almost unbearable.

I was overjoyed when the taxi finally came to a halt at Central Park. I took a deep breath of the mostly fresh air and felt a bit more at home.

"Is the city air a bit hard on you?" Percy asked.

"A bit," I said as I nodded.

"I figured it would. It does on most people who aren't used to it."

"Do you know how long it takes to get used to it?" I asked, and mentally prayed it wouldn't take too long.

He shrugged. "No clue, I grew up here so I was born used to it."

Percy and I walked ahead a bit of the adults, though we didn't say much to each other. I was completely captivated by the trees, plants and the few animals we managed to see. I've always been interested in nature and I've always had a way with animals. My dad always said I got my 'nature obsession' from my mom.

When we stopped for lunch is when things got weird.

We all sat down on a bench beside the Jacqueline Kennedy Reservoir and ate hot dogs. Very classy.

Aunt Sally went to go thrown away something and Percy and Uncle Paul were deep in conversation when I saw something in the forest. It was a big fuzzy thing that I couldn't really make-out. I thought maybe it was a bear, but there were no bears in New York City unless maybe it was in a zoo.

Then it moved into a clearing and my jaw dropped. I felt my eyes widen and my heartbeat pick up.

It was a lion with a human's face and a scorpion tail. It was hideous. I almost screamed.

"What is that?" I asked, my voice full of the fear I was trying to hide. Percy followed my gaze and his eyes widened as well.

"What is what?" Uncle Paul asked, though I ignored his question because I knew that Percy saw it too.

"You see it?" He asked, and I nodded. How could I _not_ see it? It was standing, right there in the clearing, staring right back at me. "Mom," Percy said in an urgent voice when Aunt Sally came back. "We need to go, now." He said, breaking his gaze to look up at his mother.

"Why? We still have the Belvedere Castle and the Auditorium." She said, while I continued to have a stare down with the lion thing that was about 20 feet away from me.

Percy nodded his head in the direction and she looked at the lion monster. Her smile disappeared. Uncle Paul was still somehow obvious to the creature and very confused.

"What? What do you see?"

"Paul, we need to go. It's one of them." Uncle Paul seemed to understand this and immediately stood, ready to leave. He took another glance at the lion, though I was pretty sure he couldn't fully see it like I did.

"Let's go Callie." Percy said. I couldn't move though. It was like the lion was controlling my movements without my knowing. So I continued to stare the lion in the eyes, captivated by it.

Suddenly I was yanked off the bench and the lion left my line of sight and I could move again.

"Never look it in the eyes!" Percy said and he dragged me away from the creature as soon as I was standing. I glanced back once to see it bounding after us.

We pushed through the crowds of people and it followed us still.

"Go with them!" Percy shouted before shoving me ahead. I continued running with Uncle Paul and Aunt Sally, and when I glanced back Percy had a sword and was circling the creature.

We came to the edge of Central Park and suddenly stopped.

"What are we stopping for?!" I demanded. I wanted to get as far away from that _thing_ as I could get.

"We're waiting for Percy, it shouldn't taken him long to kill the manticore and come back." Wait a second, manticore?

"Manticore? You mean like from Greek mythology?" I asked. Now that I thought about it, I did remember seeing a picture of creature that looked like the one I'd seen in the park that was captioned _manticore_.

"Yes,"

"Well what the heck is that doing here?"

"I'm not good at explaining it to be honest, Percy will explain when he gets back." Aunt Sally said as she collapsed on the nearest bench.

"So you're telling me there a mythical creature out there, Percy's trying to kill it and you can't explain any of it?"

"Yes, I'm sorry honey." I sighed and sat down on the bench next her. Uncle Paul sat on the other side of me and we waited for Percy to return.

17 minutes later he did.

"Percy, are you okay? It didn't get you did it?" They both jumped up and ran over to him as he emerged from the forest. I got up and walked over to him with more patience than either of my aunt or uncle.

"Okay, explain." I demanded after they were done making sure Percy was absolutely, 100% okay.

Percy stared at me for a second, looking like he didn't know what I was talking about. Then his expression turned to realization and he explained.

"Okay, you've heard about the Greek gods, right? Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, those sorts of things."

"Yes,"

"Well, those gods are real and very alive. They follow Western Civilization around, living in the strongest countries, so right now they're in the US. And sometimes they have kids with mortals. The kids are called half-bloods or demi-gods. I'm a demi-god, son of Poseidon." I just stared at him for a second.

"What?" Was all I managed to say.

"Sorry, I'm not that great at explaining it. Chiron's better at it."

"S-, so that really was a manticore? Like the kind that can kill you with poisonous daggers?" He nodded.

"Only demi-gods and certain mortals can see through the mist, which makes the monsters look like animals or people to regular mortals. My mother has that power. Which is what we have to find out; if you're a demi-god or a mortal that can see through the mist."

"How do you find that out?"

"Usually you get attacked by a monster or you get discovered by another demi-god or satyr. I'm pretty sure you're a demi-god though. People who can see through the Mist are pretty rare, and the fact that your mom was never around would make total sense."

"My mother has nothing to do with this." I stated, even though that was probably a lie. I didn't like talking about my mom. It always made me an odd mixture of seriously angry and seriously sad. Generally upset.

"Your mother has everything to do with this, because she is a goddess. We just don't know which one."

"Does she need to go to camp?" Uncle Paul asked.

"What camp?"

"Probably," Percy said, ignoring my question and talking directly to Paul and Sally.

"What camp?"

"We should get back then," Aunt Sally said as she raised her hand to hail a taxi.

"WHAT CAMP?!" I demanded and they _finally_ turned their attention to me.

"Camp Half-Blood, it's the only safe place for demi-gods."

Suddenly thunder clapped loudly in the distance, startling us all.

"Zeus is mad." Percy concluded simply.

A taxi finally pulled over to the side and we all loaded into the back. Uncle Paul gave the address and we were homebound.

**So…? Is it any good? Worth continuing? I still have no clue where this is going but I'll think of something if you guys like it. Review please and I'll see you next update!**

**~Clover**


	3. Camp Life

The 2 weeks it took for Percy to finish the school year was filled with more monsters, trying to find my godly parent and pollution-caused headaches. Finding my parent probably had something to do with the headaches as well.

I had never handled a weapon before (kind of shocking, since my father was a gunsmith) so of course I broke something the moment I tried holding a sword. Aunt Sally didn't blame me though, she it was just because the apartment was so tiny.

I was slowly getting used to the fact that there were Greek gods and that one of them was my mother.

•••

It took about 2 hours to get to the camp. Or at least I assumed it was, I couldn't really tell because the ghost-taxi thing Percy had summoned had just pulled over at the side of the road let us out. Percy got out of taxi and got his things so I assumed we were somewhere of importance.

"Are we there?" I asked as I joined him on the crest of the hill. In the valley below was a blue farm house and multiple other buildings that looked a bit like tool sheds. There was a sign nearby that read 'Pick your own strawberries!'.

"Yep, this is Camp Half-Blood." I stared at the camp in silence for a minute.

"Are you sure?" It didn't look like a camp, not a camp for demigods anyway. Maybe a forced-labor camp, but not a camp for children of the gods.

Percy just grinned. "It may not look like much, but trust me; it's camp." He pointed to a pine tree further up the hill and I could see a golden blanket and a dragon wrapped around the tree. Percy laughed, no doubt at the face I was making, and began heading down the hill. "Don't worry, it's friendly to demigods. Just don't try to touch the Golden Fleece."

I followed him down the hill and soon saw that the camp had many more campers than I originally thought. There were regular people, people with green skin and people who had goat legs. They were all wearing orange t-shirts that read 'Camp Half-Blood'.

There were many people calling Percy and a few people came up to talk to him. They introduced themselves to me and almost everyone thought either I was Percy's new demigod girlfriend (ew!) or a fellow child of Poseidon he'd found.

Their names jumbled around in my head; Rachel, Malcolm, Clarisse. They were just a few of the many people I met.

We made our way over to the blue house where Percy introduced me to Mr. D and Chiron, right before ditching me. I just turned around and he's gone. What a great cousin.

"Have a seat Callie." Chiron said in a warm tone. He gestured to the empty seat next to him and I sat down, my hand still clutching my duffel bag tightly.

"Are you going to play?" The fat man who had been introduced as Mr. D asked. I had no clue what they were playing, but it looked like poker and I refused to gamble.

"No sir, I'm good," All I wanted was to get out of this awkward situation, find and yell at Percy for ditching me and go home. Home home, as in Harwood Beach. In the little house right on the beach that I shared with my father. Or used to, anyway.

Thunder rolled loudly in the distance. It never had gone away after that day at the park two weeks ago. Percy had said that Zeus was just mad about something and that it would go away soon.

"Do you know what's wrong with your father, Mr. D?" Chiron asked not looking up from his cards. I didn't really know what to do since they were pretty much ignoring me. Should I have accepted the card offer?

"Something about one of my sisters," He waved it off and placed a card down on the table. Chiron did the same and Mr. D burst into a smile. "Ah-ha! I win again!"

Chiron offered him a 'you win this time' smile before finally turning to me.

"Now, Callie. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood."

"Thank you," I said, trying not to let sarcasm enter my voice.

"I do believe Percy has explained about demigods?" I nodded. "Do you have any questions?"

"No,"

"Good, good, I'll show you around camp then."

The tour around camp was pretty uneventful. The camp had about 40 cabins, a practice area, the blue farm house known simply as 'The Big House', a forge, giant forest (complete with monsters) and multiple other buildings.

The tour ended with Chiron showing me my cabin.

"This is where you will be staying until you get claimed. Travis, Connor!" He called. Two tall brown hair boys (I'm pretty sure they're twins) quickly arrived at the door. He looked friendly but his smile said he couldn't be trusted with your wallet. "Boys this is Callie Yearly, undetermined. Callie this is Travis and Connor Stoll, counselors for the Hermes cabin."

"Hey!" Travis' smile widened as he held the door open wider for me to enter. I ducked in and looked around the cabin. It had worn wooden floors and walls. There were many campers in it, most of them shared the same brown hair and blue eyes. They were all wrapped up in their conversations to notice me enter.

I turned around to talk to Chiron but he wasn't there anymore. What it is, ditch the new girl day?!

"Hey guys!" Travis called. The conversations stopped and everyone turned their attention to Travis. "This is Callie Yearly, she undetermined for now. Let's make her feel welcome." They all stared at me for a minute before returning to their conversations. I felt very unwelcome at that moment. "Well, set up on any empty cot." He said, before he and Connor entered a group of boys sitting in the corner.

I sat down on the empty bed closest to the door and shoved the duffel bag underneath it. Now what? Was I supposed to wait until they announced dinner or go practice something maybe? I had no clue to be honest. Percy is so dead when I find him.

"Hi!" A girl said from behind me and I couldn't help but jump. I turned around to face the girl. She was about my age and had dirty-blond and hazel eyes. "I'm Andrea, you're Callie, right?"

"Yeah," She held out her hand and smiled wide.

"Nice to meet you Callie, I hope we can be friends." I shook her hand and returned the smile.

"You too, so um, are we supposed to be doing an activity or something right now?"

"No, right now we have a half hour of free time before dinner. It's almost over though." I nodded, just happy to have someone to talk to.

"Are you claimed?" I asked.

"Nope, but I've been here about a month and I am 13 so it should happen soon."

We talked like that for what seemed like hours (as we later found out it was only 10 minutes) later I heard a conch shell sound off in the distance.

"Dinner time!" Andrea shouted before pushing through the crowd of campers already forming at the door.

"Make a line people!" Connor yelled.

The crowd slowly formed a crooked line. The campers all stood in rows of 3's or 4's in the line, but it was a line no less. I stood in the very back and followed them to the dinning pavilion.

The pavilion was beautiful, perched on top of a hill that overlooked the sea. It was framed in white Greek columns and was filled with multiple tables.

I finally caught up with Andrea as the line turned into a crowd again and spilled into the pavilion. The entire cabin sat down at one long table and the other cabins took their places at theirs.

I sat next to Andrea and soon after creatures I managed to indentified as nymphs passed out the food. Barbeque, grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese and bread. It looked _amazing._ It was then I realized how hungry I was.

My plate was loaded and I ready to eat when I realized the rest of the Hermes cabin was walking over to the fire in the center of the pavilion.

"Come on," Andrea said, grabbing my wrist and dragging me out of my seat. I brought my plate, like everyone else, and watched as each camper dropped in a portion of their food and spoke their parent's name.

"Dad," Andrea whispered before scraping some of her food into the red flames. She went back to the table, leaving me to figure out what do to say.

"Mom" I said, taking her lead, before scraping an apple, half my strawberries and a good portion of my barbeque in, just to be safe.

I rejoined Andrea and ate the rest of my food in silence. I took a long look around at the rest of the groups. The honey-blond, gray eyed kids were the Athena cabin; the big, strong, scary kids were the Ares cabin; and the group of kids who looked like they were going to fall asleep in their food any second were the Hypnos cabin.

Then I spotted Percy and after a few minutes determined he was specifically avoiding looking in my direction. I glared at him, trying to will him to look in my direction so I could give him the death glare.

"Cute isn't he?" Andrea's voice startled me and I whipped around to see her smiling in Percy's direction.

"What?" My mind wasn't working well enough in that moment to process her words properly.

"Percy Jackson. Legendary son of Poseidon." She glanced at the sky for a second and shrugged, like she was gushing about a middle school crush. "Total hunk."

"You have a crush on Percy? Haven't you only been here a month?"

"Don't you? I've seen him before on the 'Hall of Heroes' Chiron has in the Big House. And obviously heard about him. He did save camp after all. He has a girlfriend though." Wow, Percy'd told about his adventures, but he never told me he had saved the camp.

"No, I don't have a crush on him, but that would be because he's my cousin." Andrea's eyes widen.

"_He's_ your_ cousin_?"

"Yeah, but I only met him about 2 weeks ago. I actually live with his family because my dad died." Her excited eyes turned to sorrow.

"Oh, I'm sorry." I hated it when people said that. It wasn't their fault, so what reason did they have to apologize?

"It's not your fault." I said promptly, turning back to my empty plate. Luckily the director – Mr. D, wasn't it? – stood up to make an announcement and saved me from any further conversation.

He stood up and Chiron stomped his hoof (did I mention he's a centaur?) to gather everyone's attention.

"Today we have a new camper; Carrie Yearling." I did a facepalm. Chiron whispered something to him. "I mean, Callie Yearly."

Chiron spoke next. "In other news, this week's activity schedules have been released. Grover here will pass them out. And please notice that capture the flag will be starting half an hour later than it used to be."

A satyr that was apparently Grover went around to each table and handed out orange sheets of paper to the counselors. He gave Travis a schedule (which the twins began to fight over) and began to walk towards the next table. But then he stopped and I realized he was staring. At me. Creepy…

He suddenly realized what he was doing and quickly hurried away.

"That was weird." Andrea stated from behind me.

"Glad I'm not the only one who thinks that."

**I decided to continue. Yay! Anyone have a clue who her parent might be? Any completely random guesses about whose Andrea's parent is? She's a main character so remember her. I hope I'm not being too odivous about who Callie's parent is, I'm trying to save the give aways (if I haven't given it away already) until the chapter she gets claimed. Which should be soon. What I'm talking about when it says 'ghost-taxi thing' I mean the Charriot of Damnation used in the Sea of Monsters book. I actually did not portray Chiron very well at all in this chapter. Anyways time for the Review Responses!**

**Anonymouse29: Really? What makes it so odivous?**

**TurtleRawr: Thank you!**

**MysticRyter: No actually, I didn't think about the Star Wars Callista when I thought of her name, I just thought it sounded pretty.**


	4. Bonfires and Dreams

Later that night we sit by the bonfire with the rest of the camp and sing songs that I have never before heard. Most of them had something to do with Greek and that was really all I could tell. Other than that they were like regular campfire songs.

I felt especially happy because not 5 minutes ago I chewed out Percy for ditching me earlier. There were many people watching. And what was better was that Percy's girlfriend, Annabeth, witnessed the whole thing and came up to him and demanded to know who I was. When I was introduced as his cousin her anger died down and she shook my hand like a normal person.

I smiled into the fire at the memory. My first day had been pretty good so far. Well, other than the awkwardness at the beginning.

Andrea and I continued to sing, but she out-sung me. She out-sung everyone. I guess that's the word, but to be clear she sang louder and more beautifully than anybody else. Most of the other camps stopped singing themselves and started staring at her. Mostly only the Apollo kids continued singing and it became a contest of whose voice could go higher without breaking. Andrea vs. the Apollo cabin.

One contestant got picked off, then another and another when it was down to Andrea and a guy whose name escapes me.

They got up so loud it was like opera.

Then the kid's – I learned his name was Mark – voice broke and everyone started applauding. The applauding grew louder as a yellow holographic bow, arrow and sun appeared over her head. All overlapping in a yellow circle.

Andrea looked up and gasped. "I got claimed!" She said turning and hugging me. "No wonder I'm so good at archery!"

"Andrea Ovea, daughter of Apollo." Chiron announced.

Andrea was quickly whisked away to her new cabin and shortly after everyone headed to theirs.

I walked back to the Hermes cabin in the crowd, feeling a lot lonelier than I had all day. I once again felt homesick.

•••

I laid in my bed and continued to stare out the window at the full moon. I ignored everyone else's whispering voices and allowed myself to be captivated by it.

It was beautiful. The sliver light it projected was everywhere, making the camp look like it was in a black and white movie. It was hypnotizing, to just stare at it. Like when I saw the manticore, I just went limp and stared.

When the moon finally disappeared over the roof of the cabin I snapped out of my trance and almost instantly past out from exhaustion.

I then allowed myself to sleep.

That night I dreamt. I dreamt of people. Many people. All of which are the people I met today (except for the last one), demigods.

They're all shouting, crying, or doing something brave or dramatic.

I first see Percy. I saw him three times actually. The first time he is in shock, staring directly at me. _"What…?"_ Is what he stammers out.

The second time he is happy. He is laughing and acting big brother-y and reassuring.

Next I see Annabeth. She has a determined, friendly look on her face. _"You're different, but that's what makes heroes."_

Then I see Rachel, the oracle. She doesn't say anything, but sittings there until her a green smoke comes from her mouth and her eyes glow.

Andrea is next. _"Are you sure you really want me along? I mean, I'm not that great at fighting or anything, but I'd love to go if you really want me to" _She says, going back and forth between looking unsure to confident.

I see Percy a last time. _"I'm not 'desperate' to go on a quest. I just don't think you should go on one by yourself with so little experience."_ He is begging me this time. His blue-green eyes are pleading.

Then I see another guy. He looks Mexican-American, with black curly hair and brown eyes. He is smiling and looking severely happy and a bit proud. "I'd be honored to go on a quest with the daughter of–"

Then the dream cut off and next thing I knew I was being shaken awake. A chance to know who my mother is, gone.

**There it is! Say, have any of you heard Taylor Swift's new song for the Hunger Games? It is amazing! Anyway back to the story. Any more ideas on Callie's parent? Who the mystery guy in Callie's dream is? Anyone have a guess at Andrea's father being Apollo? Why I am I asking so many questions? Don't answer that last one. Anyway Review Response time!**

**TurtleRawr: Maybe…**

**Well that was it. Don't be afraid to review peoples! See you next update!**

**~Clover**


	5. Anemoi and Archery

It was Tuesday and I still had yet to be claimed. I didn't have too many talents; I was decent at archery, I had the freakish ability to see perfectly in the dark and my reflexes were very sharp. What exactly did that add up to? Confused counselors.

The day was pretty uneventful. Well, except for one thing.

It was the middle of night when we heard strong winds blowing against the cabin. Half of the cabin went out to see what it was and when the door opened almost everyone in the doorway was blown away. Me? I was smart enough not to get up in the first place and I clung to the edge of my bed when the wind picked up.

"Anemoi!" A voice shouted from the back of the cabin.

I managed to pull myself over to the window and saw the voice was correct. Three creatures, human from the waist up and tornado from the waist down, were on the crest of Half-Blood hill. I could just barely make out three other figures nearing the hill and the dragon (who guarded the fleece) blowing fire.

Some campers were managing to work their way up the hill as I tried to manage my way out of the cabin. It's pretty hard.

I eventually got a grip on the siding and pulled myself out. Travis, Connor and a few others took my lead.

I jumped, trying to get a grip on the next cabin, but the wind was too strong and pulled me towards the lake before another brings me back towards the hill. It was crazy and I was screaming the entire time.

Eventually I slammed into a rock and I held onto it for all I'm worth. It's safe to say it was very uncomfortable; clinging to a small rock in the middle of a windstorm in the middle of the night while I'm still in my pajamas.

I saw a few more people fly by and some actually managed to run, like on the ground, up the hill. How the heck did they do that?

I don't know how long I was there, but I was glad when the wind finally came to a stop.

I shakily stood and began to head up the hill with the rest of the camp.

There were 3 piles of golden dust where the anemoi used to be, 2 teenagers and an old satyr. Clarisse and another Ares kid were standing with their swords still out, clarifying that they killed the anemoi.

"Is everyone alright?" Chiron asked as he pushed to the front of the crowd.

Various people mumbled 'yes' and we all continued to stare at the group. The girl had choppy brown hair, eyes that seemed to be a combination of blue, green, and brown; and tan skin. The boy was clearly Mexican-American, with black curly hair and brown eyes. What shocked me though was that he was the boy from my dream. And I don't mean it in _that way._

"Gleeson, you have new campers?" Chiron asked, breaking the silence.

The satyr who was Gleeson broke his silence and spoke. "Yes sir, Piper McLean and Leo Valdez." So Leo was his name. I'll admit, he had a nice face.

"Well campers, let us welcome our newest members. Piper and Leo." Chiron said, and a few people clapped. "Piper, Leo and Gleeson come with me. The rest of you, back to bed!" He declared and every camper began heading back to their cabins.

"You okay Callie?" Annabeth asked from behind me. I realized I hadn't moved an inch and was still staring at Leo, wondering what purpose he had in my life. Thank the gods the crowd still surrounded me.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I turned and began walking back towards the Hermes cabin. I turned back around when I saw a flash of light. Leo had just been claimed a son of Hephaestus.

•••

Friday morning was an archery assistance thing the Apollo cabin was doing. It was optional and I hadn't originally planned on showing up, but Andrea told me Leo was going so I decided to go too. She thinks I have a crush on him, since I haven't told her about my dream. I didn't, if he was going on a quest with me like the dream said then I should get to know him.

"Okay so you've never shot a bow before in your life?" Andrea asked _again_.

"Never." She studied me for a minute before turning to the rack full of bows. She glanced back at me, then at the bows. She picked one up, held it next to me like it was a measuring tape, and put it back on the rack.

"Here, this one." She pulled off a bow that looked just like the rest of them and handed it to me. It was surprisingly a bit heavy. "Come on,"

We walked over towards one of the empty targets and set up. "Okay, for practice we just use regular arrows."

"I kind of figured that out Andrea." I said, trying to hide the annoyance in my voice.

"Now do as I do." She took her bow and slowly showed me how to load an arrow. I got that down pretty quickly.

Next she aimed her bow at the target and slowly pulled back the string. "It takes a bit of strength, but I'm sure you can handle that." She let the arrow fly and it hit the bull's-eye straight on.

She smiled and turned to me. "Your turn."

I took a deep breath and loaded an arrow. I aimed it so the arrow pointed a bit above the bull's-eye and let it go. It shot forward and hit the exact center, mere millimeters away from Andrea's.

"Wow." Andrea said. She started walking towards the target to retrieve the arrows. "That was lucky." She called back as she walked.

I heard a whistle from behind me and turned around to see it was; Leo. I quickly jerked back around, suddenly shy for some reason. When Andrea came back she had this wide grin on her face. She'd obviously seen me looking at Leo.

"I think he might like you." She teased.

"Oh, shut-up! I don't like him!"

"No? Then why did you change your mind about coming when I told you he was coming?"

I sighed. "Can you keep a secret?" She nodded intently. "I had a dream Sunday night. It had you, Percy, Annabeth, Rachel… and Leo in it. I think it might have been a vision dream. In it everyone was talking about a quest and me being different. And Leo said something about going on the quest with me, so I figured if he was coming I should get to know him better."

"Oh," Andrea said, taking a quick glance at Leo. "I still think he likes you." I rolled my eyes and we returned to archery.

•••

"I think maybe your father adopted you." Andrea said as we walked towards the pavilion for lunch. The archery assistant class had just finished and I had managed to hit the dead center of every target. "Maybe your real father is Apollo! That would explain how you got every single one of those shots."

"Yeah, maybe you are one of us." The Apollo counselor said from to the right of Andrea. "We've never had a red-head Apollo kid, but hey there's a first for everything." Will continued.

"Don't get your hopes up, Will. Her godly parent is still most likely her mom." Percy said from behind us. I had hadn't noticed him walk up, but then again I hadn't noticed I was in the middle of a huge crowd heading towards the pavilion.

"It would be so cool if we were sisters!" Andrea said as we continued pushing through the crowd.

"Yeah, it would." I doubt she could hear me over everyone else's voices.

We went our separate ways and I sat down at the Hermes table. I filled up my plate and headed over to the fire, like I had for the last 6 days.

I dumped in part of my meal and then mumbled "Mom." Then remembering Will and Andrea's suggestion I added "Or dad."

On my way back I kept my head down and didn't see the person until they ran into me. Luckily my food _did not_ land all over me.

"Oh sorry." I looked up, it was Leo.

"It's fine." I said. With most kids I would have snapped at them, but I needed to get on his good side. "I'm Callie by the way. Currently unclaimed" I held out my hand and he shook it.

"Leo, claimed."

"Callie!" I turned and saw Connor waving me over.

"See you around." I said before heading back to the Hermes table. "What Connor?" I asked, my tone showing my annoyance.

"This is Piper, I need you to keep track of her during Capture the Flag." Travis pointed to the girl next to him. Piper McLean, who had arrived the other day with Leo.

"Who's going to keep track of me? I've never played before." I hadn't actually been more than 5 feet into those woods.

Travis hesitated before answering "Don't worry, you have more weapons experience now, you should be good."

I sighed, but didn't say anything in return.

I finished up my food just as Chiron stomped his hoof for attention. "Capture the Flag is starting in half an hour, so everyone needs to start heading out towards their team's starting area. Just as a reminder, Hecate, Hebe, Tyche, Nike, Hypnos, Ares, Dionysus and Apollo cabins are the first team. Nemesis, Iris, Hermes, Aphrodite, Poseidon, Hephaestus, Athena and Demeter cabins are the second."

The Hermes table got up and followed the rest of team 2 into the woods.

**Bet you didn't think about that, did ya? She might have been adopted by her father. Anyway we have some bonding moments coming up and also her godly parent revealed! Gosh, I sound like a magazine. And recently (yesterday actually) my great-grandfather had a stroke and while he's still alive the doctors are saying he's not going to live much longer. Therefore my family and I are headed up to visit him, we're leaving tomorrow and I won't have much time to update. So don't expect one for a week-ish. Thanks for the reviews guys, they really help.**

**MysticRyter: That's totally understandable. Thank you!**

**BookLuver102: That's a maybe on Artemis… anyway I'm glad you like the story**

**TurtleRawr: Ding, ding, ding! Yes on Leo (I guess you already knew that…) and it's still a maybe on Hera… :)**

**One last thing, the Anemoi are the Greek verison of venti. **

**~Clover**


	6. My Parentage

After donning myself with armor and a bow– and handing off Piper to someone who knew what they were doing– I was given my post. I was sent in the opposite direction of the ocean to guard. It was thick forest where I was at.

I was waiting for the game to start when I heard a rustling from behind me. I loaded my bow and whipped around in a matter of seconds. Maybe the game had already started after all.

It was Leo. What was he doing here?

"What are you doing here?" I demanded.

"Um, I'm looking for post 11-9. They told me to go there." Oh gods. This was post 11-9; they assigned me a partner.

"You found it." I said, turning to face the enemy lines. I didn't really know what to do with a partner.

"Oh, okay. So you're my guarding partner?"

"I guess." I said, trying to ward off any further conversation. I did need to make friends with him, yes, but I also needed to not get distracted right now. People got seriously hurt in this game all the time, and I did not want to be one of those people.

Leo got the clue and stayed quiet as he slowly paced the perimeter.

"You said you aren't claimed, right?" Or maybe he didn't get the clue.

"Yes." Now shut up.

"Well, have you thought that maybe your dad is Apollo?" About 40 times today. "I saw at the archery range earlier, you're really good."

"My dad was William Yearly and he's dead."

"Oh." There, maybe now he'd be quiet. "I understand, my mom died in a fire when I was 8." Oh. Now I really, kinda felt bad. Yet, I also felt a connection. An understanding between us. "None of my relatives would take me in."

"Oh, I'm sorry. At least someone took me in, where did you live?" I forgot completely about the whole 'no talking' thing I had wanted earlier.

"Foster homes, I always ran away though. And they always caught me." He looked sadly off in the distance before returning to reality. He cleared his throat and looked a bit embarrassed. "Anyway, what about you? Where'd you go to live?"

"New York City, with my aunt, uncle and cousin. That's actually how I got here, my cousin Percy found out I was a demigod and so I came here."

"Your cousin's Percy? Percy Jackson? I met him the other day."

"Yep, that's him." It was surprising how easy it was to talk to him.

Suddenly there was a rustling from further down the line. Leo glanced at me, then back south. "You heard that too, right? I'm gonna go check it out." He said before giving me a chance to answer.

He didn't go far, but the rustling got closer. I loaded the bow and prepared to shoot just in case.

Then I spotted him. A boy, about 11, sitting in a tree on enemy grounds. He had his bow loaded and was watching Leo intently. Then he aimed and before I could tell Leo to move, the boy shot. I raised my bow, as if that would help.

But then something weird happened. It seemed like everything but me slowed down. The arrow moved in slow-motion towards Leo's armored head. It still would knock him unconscious if it hit him.

So while I had the advantage of time slowing down around me I raised my bow fully and aimed. It was a long shot (no pun intended), but I shot anyway.

Time suddenly picked up, like it had caught itself falling asleep, and my arrow hit the boy's so fast I couldn't see where it went.

It must have made noise because Leo looked up right after. "What was that?!"

"Move!" I demanded before shooting into the tree. An Apollo camper fell out seconds later. I pushed him so he was on his stomach. I'd hit him in the back of his helmet, like he'd intended to do to Leo. There was a dent.

I turned my attention to Leo to see if he was okay, but he was preoccupied. "Did you do that?" He asked in disbelief.

"Do what?"

He moved so I could see. My arrow had gone partway through the kid's arrow and it was now stuck in a tree. "I-, I guess I did."

"How did you _do_ that?!" I simply shrugged. I didn't like pulling attention to myself.

Just then Percy and a few others burst across the line and into our side. They were followed by a few other kids who were obvious trying to stop them.

The kids from our team all cheered and laughed as Percy waved the flag. Then the flag changed from a Hecate theme to Poseidon.

Then all the cheering and the laughter and the happiness stopped. Everyone stopped what they were doing at stared at me. Percy, Leo, Travis, Connor, Annabeth, Piper, and everyone else within sight of me.

It took a minute to realize that they weren't staring at me; they were staring at something above me. I looked up to see the holographic sign above my head. I had been claimed! But by who?

The sign had a bow and arrow crossed in the front and a moon in back. The whole thing was glowing sliver. Then it hit me who my mother was.

Artemis.

**Dun, dun, duunnnnnnnnnn! Who saw it coming from the start? I know it was kind of obvious the last few chapters '~', and I sort of meant to do that. What do you thinks going to happen next? Review Responses:**

**preston m: Yes**

**renagal42: Yep, it's Artemis and thank you!**

**MysticRyter: Hmm, that's not really something I usually listen to, but it was oddly comforting! And on Jason; if you remember he was sent across the country by Hera and Percy was sent to his camp. In my story that doesn't happen, so Jason is still happily living in his Roman camp.**

**Also on a side note, all reviews (that aren't anonymous) will now be responded to via IM.**

**~Clover**


	7. Coming to Terms

Artemis.

My mom was Artemis.

As in the _virgin_ goddess who had swore _never_ to _marry_ or _have children_.

Yep, that one.

That explained everything. Why she'd left my dad before I was born and then leaving me with him before I could even drink cow's milk. Why I had super sharp reflexes, why I could see perfectly clear in the dark, why I was so amazing at archery. It all made sense.

"What…?" Percy stammered as he looked at me, completely shocked. Just like in my dream.

Then Chiron and Mr. D emerged from the forest. I was surprised Mr. D had come this deep into the forest.

Both their mouths dropped.

"Oh my…" Chiron stammered.

I really wished everyone would stop staring at me at that point, I never liked being the center of attention. Chiron finally cleared his throat and made his way towards me.

"Callie Yearly, daughter of Artemis." About 4 random people scattered around the crowd clapped. I didn't know any of them.

Suddenly Percy apparently came to his senses (more or less) and shouted "Move!" before pushing me to the ground. Suddenly there was a very_ loud_ clap of thunder and a flash of bright white. Some people screamed, but I didn't know why because I couldn't see anything but dirt. When I pushed myself up I saw what had scared them.

There was a circle of black ashe where I used to be standing. Lightning had struck it.

The thunder became so loud it was hard to hear Percy, who was standing next to me. Zeus was seriously furious.

"Get her to the Big House!" Chiron shouted as another lightning bolt struck so close I could feel the heat. Campers flanked me on all sides and –whether I wanted to or not– I was headed towards the Big House.

Once I was inside everyone else left (other than Chiron). Mr. D had even been called up to Olympus.

"Well, Callie, it was been an eventful week. Wouldn't you say?" I just nodded. I was in no mood to talk. Or really be anywhere near another living thing. "Yes, very. Now I need you to listen. You are in danger. You know that. Zeus has never been this angry before. I plan on contacting him to try to help your case, but until then you will need to stay in this house. Understood?"

I nodded and continued to stare at the floor. I was now considered a freak by everyone at camp. But it would go away, right? The dream made that clear. There would be at least 5 people willing to go near me and 4 of them would be willing to speak to me. Eventually.

"There is a guest bedroom I will show you later." He wanted to talk more about trying to stay alive and my important mother and thousands of things more but I just wanted some fresh air and to be alone. Or to be with my dad.

"Can I go outside? Like on the porch?"

Chiron stared, a bit surprised at my question. "Okay, as long as you stay away from the railing."

So I rose and went out the backdoor to the back porch. I knew Chiron was watching through the window, but I was just glad to be alone.

I watched the dark camp. There was lightning every now and again, but none of it came close to the big house or any of the cabins.

They were all scared of me now. But I was forbidden, so they had reason. Maybe could I run away or something? No, I would just be zapped into nothingness by Zeus as soon as I left the porch.

I eventually got tired and went up stairs to sleep.

•••

The next day Mr. D had come back and before he headed out to do whatever it is he does all day he said "You're in a lot of trouble." Like I didn't already know that.

Chiron _advised_ (more like forced) me to stay inside. My breakfast was brought to the big house and since I couldn't dump some of it in the fire I just chucked some of it out the back window and hoped that would work.

I wandered around the house for a good long while before someone actually visited me.

It was Percy and it was safe to stay that it was the most awkward situations I have ever been in.

We both stood in silence for a good 5 minutes, waiting for the other to start the conversation.

"Hi." I said after a while.

"Hey." More awkward silence.

"So how have you been?"

"Good, good, my cousin was recently claimed as a daughter of Artemis so there is that." And the awkward meter goes up another notch!

"Interesting." We stood in silence yet again. "What are we doing?" Seriously, we were just asking and telling each other obvious questions and answers as if we were different people.

"I don't know."

"Okay, well anyway, is everyone totally afraid of me now?" I asked, knowing that they probably were.

"Not afraid of you, but of what Zeus would do if they got too close."

"Everyone?"

"Pretty much."

"Well that makes me feel better."

"Hey, you asked."

"True." There was more silence until Annabeth burst through the door.

"Percy you said you wouldn't go without me!" She said, not really angry or upset, just really annoyed.

"You weren't at the cabin when I came to get you."

"Ugh, nevermind. Well, Callie how are you doing?" She asked as she smiled at me.

"Okay, I guess."

"Good, I'm glad to hear that the lightning hasn't gotten you. Don't worry about it too much though, he'll calm down in a few days. But I still would be careful."

"Thanks," I said, not really sure what else to say. I looked around the room, not wanting to meet her eye because she'll read me like a book if I do.

"Really, Callie. You're different, but that's what makes heroes." She had the same determined, friendly look as she had in my dream. Creepy.

"Exactly, like me." Percy added.

"Yes, like you Percy." She said very flatly as she rolled her eyes. "But seriously, there's no need to worry. Everyone will get used to it and so will you."

**Hmm, I hope it doesn't sound too 'cutesy happy' at the end there :\ Tell me what you think about that and see you soon guys!**

**~Clover**


	8. Preparing to Fight

_1 week later_

A week later I had moved into the Artemis cabin, though I couldn't leave the cabin unless a camper was with me. That way Zeus wouldn't destroy me because there was the chance of him destroying the camper too and that would make that camper's parent mad. And that could lead to a big god vs. god fight and nobody wants that.

Mostly Andrea, Percy, Annabeth and sometimes Leo would stay with me. It became a sort of routine; someone would show up in the morning and hand me off to someone else at lunch. All the while everyone else avoided me.

This morning it was Andrea.

"Does anyone talk about me?" I asked on the way to rock climbing. Or watching other people rock climbing anyway. "Like, do they talk about me being weird or different or forbidden or something?"

"Yeah, pretty much everyone does." She answered. I know she's being honest because she's one of those people who never lies. Like George Washington. "They're not really being negative or anything, they're just, you know, talking."

"Sure," I said sarcastically as I watched a satyr bound up the lava covered wall.

"It's not that bad Callie. At least you're not being accused or anything like Percy was when he started camp. Zeus thought that Percy had stolen his master bolt. When you think about that, it could be way worse."

"But he didn't, right?" I asked, my thoughts wavering to the idea that my cousin stole from the gods.

"Of course not, he found it and proved his innocence." Andrea assured me. "But we're wandering from the point. Zeus may be out to get you, but that'll go away. Being accused of robbing a major god usually doesn't go away unless you go and prove yourself innocent."

I nodded, completely bored now. We watched more satyrs and campers dart up the wall.

Thunder rolled softly in the distance. It still hasn't completely gone away, but it has gotten quieter and it occurs less.

"So what does the Artemis cabin look like?" Andrea asked after a while.

"Silver. That's what it looks like." It was true, about ¾'s of the furniture was silver and all the walls were silver. I think my mom's obsessed with the color. "And the parts that aren't silver are gray."

Andrea glared at me, so I went into detail. "Just about everything in the cabin is some shade of silver or gray. The walls, the bedside table, the storage chest, the lamp and the sheets. The bed frame and a few other miscellaneous furniture items are a dark brown wood."

"What does it look like other than the color?"

"Pretty much just like the Hermes cabin; 2 rows of bunk beds on either side of the room, storage chests at the end of the beds, a bathroom. Pretty much the same." Andrea nodded in response, clearly not impressed. I didn't blame her, I wasn't either.

The conch shell went off in the distance and everyone at the rock wall slowly began to head to their next activity.

I was ushered to sword fighting and handed off to Percy. I was jealous of Andrea, who was off to archery. As a daughter of Artemis, I suck at using a sword.

I selected a sword, one that was a bit too light but it would have to do. I don't know why they make me do the sword lessons, as a bow is obvious my better weapon.

And you know what's even better? I get to embarrass myself with the sword in front of a bunch of other kids! (I hope you know I was being sarcastic just then)

I'm assigned to Jo Lakes, a giant Ares kid who seems fully aware that I have no talent with a sword and will most likely use that to her advantage.

I have the tiniest bit of happiness inside me because she's actually willing to go near me. But that was almost completely canceled out by fear.

"Alright guys, listen up." Percy announced once everyone had a sword. "Today we're going to be working on defenses. Blocking, dodging, that sort of thing." I crossed my arms and prayed that Jo would go easy on me. "Now, watch Austin and I first and then you'll all practice it."

A brunette teen stepped out of the crowd with his sword raised. He was obviously Austin. "I'll be attacking and Percy will be defending. You'll want to pay attention to what he does." Austin instructs before he and Percy back away from the crowd of viewers.

They were about 7 feet apart when the mock battle began. Percy took a few steps forward to ready himself and Austin charged.

His first swing was easily blocked. Austin swung again and is again blocked. They go on like that for a few minutes.

"Are we going to actually learn something?" I whispered to no one in particular.

"In a few minutes, after they're done showing off." A 15-year old to my left answers. It strikes me that these people know more about my cousin than I do.

He's right; after a few minutes Percy and Austin stop showing off and get down to actually teaching something.

"Alright," Percy began. "Now watch carefully." The swords move slower this time as Austin swings at Percy's side. Percy blocks it and slowly twists his sword so that Austin's flies out of his hand and slides a few feet away. "In a real battle it would be a lot faster."

"Obviously." A female voice from the back of the crowd called. Percy just glared in her direction and continued.

"But I was slowing down so everyone could get a good look at what you're supposed to do. Okay, now pair up with your assigned partner and practice. One of you will block and the other will attack. After a while switch. And remember; no maiming." The crowd dispersed and I glanced over at Jo. Guessing by the way Jo is evilly glaring at me, I'm going to be the one blocking. Zeus help me.

**Sorry it's late guys, I've had a really bad case of writer's block. It would have been longer, but that would have taken longer to write and I wanted to get this up as soon as possible. I'll update soon this time, I promise! See ya!**

**~Clover**


	9. Jo Lakes: An Example of Pure Evil

"What happened?" Will Solace asked as Percy helped me limp into the Apollo cabin. My leg was still bleeding pretty badly, but it had slowed down a lot. At least the cut on my arm had stopped bleeding.

"Jo Lakes happened." Percy said bitterly.

_Jo_. I hated that girl. She's… she's… Demented? Hateful? Pure evil? Yep, all that and more.

"Jo Lakes? She's only been here for 2 months, yet she's tearing up campers left and right!" Will exclaimed, clarifying that I wasn't Jo's first victim. "I wish Chiron would just kick her out of camp already." He sighed and pointed to a chair in the corner, which Percy helped me over to. I sat down and Will began working on my leg.

Oh, you don't know what's going on, do you? I guessing you want me to recount the events, right? Ugh, fine.

_*Flashback*_

"Alright mini, I'll be attacking. You'll be blocking. Got it?" Jo said, stating the question instead of asking it. I nervously nodded.

"I'm, uh, not very good with a sword so I was wondering if you'd go easy on me?" I asked nervously.

She gave an evil-ish sounding laugh. "Sure," I breathed a sigh of relief and held up my sword. Although I started to have this feeling in my gut that told me that I shouldn't have told her that.

We started off as Percy and Austin did. She swung at my side like she was supposed to, but her blade was going too fast and I just barely managed to block it. My body shook under the sudden pressure.

I twisted my sword like I was supposed to, but she pulled hers away. She wasn't supposed to do that.

"What are you doing? I'm to try to get the sword out of your hand. I was doing it right." The feeling in my gut got stronger.

"I know, but I'm just making this more like a real battle. You have to do it quickly or your enemy will realize what you're doing and prevent it. That's okay, right?" _No, it's not!_ That's what I wanted to say, but (blame it on my natural southern hospitality) I didn't.

"Um, I guess." She smirked and we resumed our positions.

So we tried again. The same thing happened, except this time she gave me a minor cut to my forearm.

"Ow!" My hand shot to my forearm and I inspected the cut. It wasn't very deep, but it was enough to draw blood.

"Oops, sorry." She said, not sounding sorry at all as she checked her reflection in her sword blade. I didn't say anything, but rolled my eyes. I left the wound alone and resumed my position yet again; I'd get Andrea to bandage it later.

She raised her's again and the duel was back on. She spontaneously tried to hit me, but I blocked. I eventually got around to trying the move again. So I held the block and began to twist the sword. She pulled away from the twist and slashed her sword deep into my leg. I cried out in pain and fell.

All eyes were on me as my leg blead at a scary pace. Percy was instantly in between Jo and I. I glanced up from my wounded leg up at Jo to see her_ smirking._ The jerk had just maimed me and was happy about!

"What was that?!" Percy demanded as he glared at Jo.

"What was what?" The 15 year-old asked innocently.

"Don't play with me, you purposely cut her leg." Percy's glare was a bit scary; I didn't know how Jo managed to remain so calm while it was directed at her.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

While they argued I examined my wound. Oh gods, it went to the bone.

"Austin, take over!" Percy said as Jo stalked off towards the Big House, swinging her sword into her hand. He leaned down and examined my wound for himself. "Alright, come on." He helped me stand up and wobble over to the edge of the arena.

"Where are we going?"

"Apollo cabin." He answered simply as we continued to the U of cabins.

_*End of Flashback*_

So yeah, that's what happened. Now, I'm here in the Apollo cabin, sitting in an uncomfortable chair as Will puts stitches in my leg. Fun, right?

**Sorry it took so long guys, I just keep getting writer's block! It's like an old roommate! It shows up uninvited, eats all your creativity and then leaves! Ugh! I'll try to update sooner this time, guys.**

**~Clover**


	10. I Talk to Fire and Meet a Star

I laid on my bed, staring up at the silver ceiling. I was deep in thought as the fire in the fireplace roared on.

Chiron honestly had no clue of what to do with Jo. Even after I showed off my stitches and Percy gave a play-by-play recount, he still didn't want to ban Jo from camp.

'This is the only safe place for demigods, if I remove her from camp she will most likely be killed by monsters.' He'd said.

'So?' I'd snapped back. He dismissed us (against our will) and so we went to dinner and then back to our cabins. And that's where I am now, fuming over my thoughts.

It wasn't that complicated of a choice; since she thinks she's all that and has the power to control campers by hurting them, then she should be dropkicked out of camp as soon as possible.

I eventually got bored of my thoughts and got ready for bed. I began to unbraid the single fishtail braid that had been running down my back. That was done in a matter of seconds and I quickly changed into my pajamas.

When I went to brush my teeth is when things got strange.

You'd think I'd be used to strange by now, and in a way I was. But I was not, however, used to what happened next.

"_Callie!"_ I jerked around, toothbrush still in my mouth.

"Who said that?" I demanded.

"_Callie!"_ I stepped into the main room of the cabin. It was a male voice, I could determine that, but that was it. I didn't recognize this voice at all. "_Callie!_" The voice was coming from somewhere around the fireplace. I crept closer and looked under the bunk beds. No one was there.

"_Callie!"_ That time it hit me; the voice was coming from the_ fire_!

I stared at it in shock for a few minutes, trying to comprehend the fact that the fire had just spoken to me.

_"Callie!"_ It said a fifth time.

"Yes, Fire?" I asked with uncertainty, grimacing at how weird it sounded.

"Okay, good. You're finally listening. I don't usually do this, but I owed your mom a favor, so don't tell anyone this happened. Okay?"

"Um, sure. Do you have a proper name, Mr. Voice-coming-from-the-fire?"

"Hephaestus, god of fire and the forge. I'm in a minor, sort of embarrassing form right now, so please don't bring this up again. Ever." Hephaestus was talking to me? Why?

"Sure. What are you doing here?" Talking to the fire (who was actually Leo's dad) was creeping me out.

"Right, Artemis wants you to meet someone in the woods. At the post where you were revealed as her daughter. Go alone."

"Why does she want me to meet her there?"

"I don't know. I didn't ask questions, I just wanted to do this and get over it as soon as possible. Speaking of which, got to go."

"But-" I cut off because the fire flickered out before I could say anything else, ending one of the strangest conversations I'd ever had.

Should I go outside? I mean, won't Zeus blast me into nothingness? There's no way to get someone over here to take me. Even if there was, I was told to go alone.

After 5 minutes of thinking like this I finally decided to go. Surely my mother knew if it was safe, right? _Right?_

I quickly swapped my monkey covered pajama pants for jeans and pulled on a jacket, that way if anyone caught me I wouldn't look like an idiot who had decided to wander around in the middle of the night in their pajamas.

I stepped outside, but stood on the doorstep. As I stood there every previous worry ran through my head again.

"Stop it!"I scolded myself. I don't need to be thinking about all the many things that could go wrong with my simple plan.

I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and stepped off the doorstep.

Nothing happened. I opened my eyes and look up at the sky. It was totally clear. Same way it had been all night. Nothing had happened.

I realized I was holding my breath and let it out. I carefully walked forward, just waiting for the lightning. It didn't come.

I slowly quickened my pace, wanting to get past the cabins as soon as possible. Soon I was past them and standing at the edge of the forest. It looked a lot scarier at night.

I gathered my courage and stepped into the woods, wandering in the general direction of my previous post. I soon found it; the arrow was still deeply embedded in the tree. I looked closely and saw- wow, seriously? 'Leo was here' was carved into its thin shaft. That boy…

"Hello?" I asked as I straightened, uncertain of anyone actually being here.

"It's about time you showed up." A girl's voice said. From where, I didn't know. I looked all around and didn't see anyone. "You are Callista, daughter of Artemis, correct?" I turned around and saw what I believe is classified as a ghost. She had long black hair, cooper colored skin and eyes as dark as the night around us. I could see right through her.

"Yes." She studied me for a minute.

"How old are you?" That took me by surprise. Wasn't she going to introduce herself? Tell why I'm out here?

"Aren't you going to tell me who you are?"

"Later. How old are you?" She asked again.

"14, what does that have to do with anything?" She just shook her head.

"14 years. She's kept this from me for 14 years." I had a feeling she was talking about my mother. Despite the disappointment I could hear in her voice she smiled at the ground.

"Would you mind telling me who you are and why I'm here?" I asked, getting impatient.

"Right, sorry. I am Zoë Nightshade, former hunter of Artemis. Artemis sent me here to give you this." She held out her hand to reveal a (non-ghost) ring. It was silver and had an arrow running around it. "It is magical and it is yours. Do not let it fall into anyone's hand but yours."

I carefully reached out and took it from her. I slipped it on my finger and looked at it.

"How is it magical?" It looked like an ordinary ring to me, despite its unnatural beauty in the moonlight.

"Press the arrowhead." She said as if it were obvious. So I pressed the arrowhead and, with a flash of light, the ring turned into a silver bow and a quiver materialized on my back. Zoë smiled at me.

"Well, since that's taken care of, I must resume my place. Farewell Callista Yearly." She said before her ghostly form began swirling and sparkling. She became incredibly bright as she rose up in the air and went through a cloud, disappearing from sight. When the cloud went away I could see a constellation I hadn't seen before. A female hunter with her bow drawn back. That was Zoë.

**Zo****ë**** Nightshade and Hephaestus all in one chapter! I have a question for you guys, right now I'm trying to make Callie and Andrea like they are in my mind and Leo like he is in the books (harder said than done). So what I'd like for you to do is just, sort of explain their current personalities (in my story) and what you think about them. Do Callie and Andrea sound like the same person? Does Leo's personality match up? Tell me please! See you soon guys!**

**~Clover**

**P.S. Anonymous Review Responses:**

**BOB: I'm glad you like it! I agree, it would be cool to have Artemis as a mom. Also on the writer's block, I knew what I wanted to write, but I just couldn't get it down. Thank you for reviewing!**


	11. My Bad Morning Gets Worse

A usual breakfast at the Artemis table consists of me sitting closest to another camper while still at my table and me eating in that position. That is why I hate breakfast.

But today, breakfast was flat out horrible.

My hair was filled with crushed leafs Andrea had to keep picking out on the way to the pavilion, since I had spent a lot of time running around in the woods last night (I couldn't find my way back after I got the ring). My eggs were burned. So was my toast. Nyssa, counselor of the Hephaestus, announced that there was in fact a rabid metal dragon loose in the woods. Chiron announced that Capture the Flag would be postponed until the dragon was caught.

I am I missing anything? Oh yes, then my 'lovely' breakfast was interrupted by… okay I'm getting ahead of myself, just read.

I forcefully shoved another bite of the horrible burned eggs in my mouth. I could already tell this day was going to suck.

"Attention all campers!" Chiron called as he stomped his hoof on the stone floor. "Hephaestus counselor Nyssa has an announcement to make." He stepped back and a girl who looked like she had stepped out of an action movie came forward.

"Um, as some of you may recall, Beckendorf reconstructed the giant metal dragon a few summers back. And, as some of you may recall, when he died it went haywire and left the camp." A mixture of remembrance rose from the crowd. "We thought it had gone off and shut down. It didn't."

Tension filled the air as her words sunk in. There was a giant, metal, haywire dragon on the loose.

"It was found by some of our campers at the last capture the flag, we kept it secret until we were sure. It's now too dangerous to go into the woods until we catch… and kill the dragon." She choked a bit on the word 'kill'. "That's all."

She quickly hurried back to her seat as the camp whispered in shock.

Chiron stamped his hoof again. "Until the Hephaestus cabin removes the beast, Capture the Flag will be on hold."

Everyone groaned. This day was really going to suck.

So I ate the rest of my breakfast in silence until there was a sudden thunderstorm. _Very_ sudden. There was a loud rumble and then _pop_ a thunderstorm!

My friends inched closer to me.

There was an incredibly loud clap of thunder and a lightning bolt struck the ground in front of my table. I jumped up out of instinct and backed up. The smoke from the lightning slowly cleared to reveal a tall man with black hair and a black beard. He held a lightning bolt in his left hand. He looked powerful and very angry as he glared directly at me.

The entire camp gasped and Chiron stepped forward before bowing. "Lord Zeus," Zeus? The man standing in front of me… was _Zeus_?

Everyone followed Chiron's gesture so I did as well.

"What a pleasant surprise. May I ask what you are doing here, you're Majesty?" I know he's the most powerful god, but really? You're Majesty? What year is this?

Zeus continued to glare at me.

"Callista Yearly." He said in a booming voice that sent shivers up my spine.

"That's-" I stopped and cleared my throat when I heard how scared I sounded. "That's me, sir."

"I know who you are. You're an even bigger disgrace than Percy Jackson." I saw Percy's jaw drop out of the corner of my eye. "At least he was able to prove himself useful. I don't think you'll be able to do the same." I don't know exactly what he meant by that, but I figured it had something to do with my natural scrawniness and lack of experience with anything demigodly.

Then it hit me what he had planned. He had come down here to announce that I was worthless and unworthy of being Artemis' daughter and then blast me into ashes. I didn't particularly want to be blasted into ashes.

A surge of fear-based courage washed over me. "I can prove myself." I stated with way more confidence than I actually had as I straightened.

Zeus laughed loudly at my statement. "Really? You honestly think you can prove yourself? Ha!" He laughed again before getting serious. "There is no way in Hades that will ever happen, so you might as well be gotten rid of." He grinned and took a step towards me. I took a step away.

"Lord Zeus, surely there is a better way to solve this." Chiron said in a slightly panicked voice as Zeus raised his bolt. I prayed to any god that would listen. I couldn't die at 14! There was too much I hadn't done!

"Yes, there is." A feminine voice said from somewhere out of view. I turned and saw a woman standing at the edge of the pavilion. Her floor length dress was silver and she wore no shoes. She had a quiver strapped to her back and she held a bow. Her hair was the same auburn as mine and her eyes were the color of pure silver. I quickly realized the woman standing before me was my mother.

Something that struck me as odd was that I'd seen her before. Three times actually.

_I ran through the seemingly endless woods, tears streaming down my 8 year-old self's cheeks. I was hopelessly lost. My father had taken a repaired gun to one of his customers and while he was busy with that I explored. I ended up following the sound of other kid's shouts into the thick forests. The shouts went away 5 minutes in and I realized I didn't know where I was. I finally collapsed against a tree and cried until my head hurt. Then I heard the snapping of a twig and looked up. There, in the distance, was a woman. _

_"Help!" I shouted to her "Help!" She didn't say anything, but simply waved me over. I immediately stood up and ran towards her. But no matter how fast I ran she was always the same distance away. Eventually I got closer to her, but then she turned and ran into a clearing. I followed and found myself behind the customer's house. The woman had disappeared._

_Another time when she taught 10 year-old me how to skin a squirrel. But you probably don't want me to go into detail about that…_

_And finally, over a month ago, I sat in the hospital hallway with my father's lawyer, praying for some sort of miracle. My eyes were blood-shot and my hair a wreck. Not that I cared. It was little over an hour after my father's car had collided with a train. He was barely hanging onto life._

_My dad's lawyer, Jane Esterwood, didn't look much better. I didn't know why she was there, but it was nice to have a familiar face around._

_A red-head nurse came out of the room and I shot up from my seat on the floor. She looked familiar, but I hadn't given that a second thought. I had a bad feeling when I saw that she'd been crying. "I'm sorry Callie, he didn't make it."_

_I stared at her in shock while the words sunk in. "He's… dead?" I asked, trying to get this thought into my head. My father, the man who had raised me for the last 14 years, was dead._

_I was already crying my eyes out when she nodded and tried to hug me. I pushed her away and ran down the hall as fast as I could._

"Lady Artemis." Chiron's voice cut through my memories and pulled me back to the real world. Everyone bowed, and again I followed.

"Chiron." She respectively acknowledged him before turning to her father. "There is a better way to solve this. You just don't want to admit it."

Zeus tensed at his daughter's words. He knew what she was talking about, and I couldn't wait to hear it. If there was a chance that it would prolong my life, I was in.

"No daughter, the gods can take care of that ourselves. She would die before she even reached Virginia." He started laughed again. He was really starting to get on my nerves.

"You know that we can't. Face it, this is a quest for a demigod. A special demigod." She glanced at me for the first time that morning before returning her gaze to Zeus. "Give her a chance."

Zeus' lightning bolt began to glow, indicating that he was really getting angry. "Fine!" He declared. "Callista Yearly, if you can somehow find and return the staff of Hades then you shall live. If you fail and don't die, I will kill you myself! He shouted before a lightning bolt hit him and he disappeared. Artemis still stood there, looking quite happy with herself.

She turned to Chiron and handed him a scroll before turning back to me. "Good luck Callie. And you needn't worry about getting killed by my father anymore, at least while you're on the quest." She said before her form shimmered and she disappeared.

Chiron quickly read the scroll, his face paling more every second. "Callie, I want to see you in the Big House. Now." He quickly trotted out of the pavilion, towards the Big House.

Call me slow, but it was then I noticed everyone in the pavilion staring at me. Hey, it's kinda hard to take notice of your surroundings while two gods are fighting over your life!

"Return to your meals!" I called weakly before hurrying out of the pavilion.

I quickly entered the Big House where I saw Rachel Dare and Chiron waiting for me.

"This is going to be a hard quest, Callie. I hope your mother knew what she was doing."

**There we go, a nice long chapter to make-up for your 17-day wait. Sorry it took so long, but I've been busy. I only have two weeks of school left and I am SOOOOOO far behind! But, the good news is that I took an online class for creating better stories and characters! So now Callie and Andrea have their own little profiles filled with every fact you might want to know and more! I'll update soon (or at least I'll try to)!**

**~Clover**


	12. The Quest

"This is going to be a hard quest, Callie. I hope your mother knew what she was doing." Chiron said nervously as he re-read the scroll again.

"What's the quest?" I asked, not sure if I wanted to know.

"I don't know why he kept this from me… We should have been notified we could have helped earlier." He mumbled to himself. Rachel elbowed him in the side and he snapped up from his reading.

"What's the quest?" I repeated.

He cleared his throat before he spoke. "Well, Callie, you know of the Staff of Hades, correct?" I nodded. "It's been stolen."

"What? By who?" How could Hades' most used and loved weapon be stolen?

"We don't know. But you have been given a quest to find and return it."

I resisted the strong urge to cry.

"Do we have any clue who stole it or where it is?"

"No clues on who stole it, or at least not that they put. Hades is blaming the other gods, which is why Lord Zeus didn't want our interference. So he could get it back himself and prove to Hades that they never would upset him."

"Why?" I didn't particularly like the god of death, seeing how my father is dead.

"Because whether the gods like it or not they need demigods. And if Hades doesn't get this staff back by…" He checked the scroll again. "The 26th then he will turn to the side of the enemy. And if he does so then the enemy will have the power to bring their monsters back to life almost instantly."

"That's a bit rash, don't you think?"

"Perhaps, but it is Hades we're talking about." I had to agree with him there. The god of death didn't sound like the kind of person to take things calmly.

"What about location? Do they have any clue where it's at?"

He looked over the scroll _again_. "The gods have reason to believe it is in Florida. They don't say what reason they have, just that they believe it is in the Florida city of Tallahassee."

"Tallahassee?" What was it doing down_ there_, across the country and a bit south of the entrance to the Underworld? "Is that as specific as it gets?" He nodded gravely. Well that was a big help, wasn't it now?

"As you should know by now, you may bring 2 fellow companions along with you. Do you know who you are bringing?" I stared at the floor deep in thought, remembering my dream. It said that I would bring Andrea and Leo, but despite my efforts, I didn't know Leo that well. I knew he was 14, a 'godly orphan' (as we demigods without mortal parents were so lovingly tagged), was from Texas, was a son of Hephaestus and that was pretty much it. I think everyone would consider it strange.

But who knew what the consequences would be if I didn't listen?

"Andrea Ovea and Leo Valdez." I stated.

"Are you sure? You should probably bring someone of higher experience, perhaps your cousin, Percy?" He tried to get me to change my mind, but it wasn't going to happen. Besides, I don't want my _cousin_ to come with me.

"I've decided."

"I just don't think-"

"Chiron," I cut him off before he could finish speaking. "I have made my choice. I only ask that you respect it." I remembered what my guidance counselor had told me in the 5th grade; try to be professional and polite instead of shouting and using other inappropriate way to release your anger. He'd been a total nut-job, but he gave half decent advice, even though it almost never had anything to do with what we were talking about.

He looked a bit shell shocked at that, but slowly nodded before turning to Rachel.

"She'll need a prophecy." The red-head nodded and went into a trance. Chiron backed away from her some and I stayed on the couch directly across from her.

Her eyes glowed green and a green mist came from her mouth as she began to speak, but not in her voice.

_"3 demigods shall leave for the south,_

_ One shall be lost at the water's mouth,_

_ A friend they will find and death they will cure,_

_ But into a trap they will be lured._

_ Though the staff they will retrieve,_

_ The date will too quickly leave."_

Rachel slouched against the couch, unconscious. Chiron turned to me.

"You've heard your prophecy, now go tell your companions. You will leave this Saturday." He directed calmly. I nodded and hurried outside. I felt his eyes follow me out the door.

•••

I headed to the Apollo cabin first, so I could get Andrea recruited for the quest. I now found that I could walk around camp without Zeus trying to blast me to ashes, which would be a big help in the upcoming journey.

I knocked on the door and walked into the cabin. It was the after lunch resting period right now (although no actually rests during this time, they were just forced to stay in their cabins) so the entire Apollo cabin was there. Just as I though, no one noticed my knocking or entering. It didn't matter if they had, being a daughter of Artemis, their aunt, I was welcome in the Apollo cabin.

I wandered through the cabin to Andrea's bunk. She was reading a poetry book and subconsciously tugging on her chin length hair. I walked up and tapped her shoulder.

"Oh, Callie!" She shut her book and jumped up. "What's the quest Artemis gave you?" She asked intently. I glanced around at the many eyes suddenly watching us and decided it was best to tell her outside.

"Come on, I'll tell you outside."

We walked outside and wandered away from the cabins a bit so no one else could hear.

"Okay. The staff of Hades has been stolen by an unknown enemy, I have to venture down to somewhere in Tallahassee to find it and return to the Underworld by the 26th." I said, releasing the information all at once. She seemed to absorb it pretty well though. "And I was wondering if you'd like to join me." I finished as she stared at the ground.

She seemed quite shocked that I invited her. "Are you sure you really want me along? I mean, I'm not that great at fighting or anything, but I'd love to go if you really want me to" She asked, going back and forth between looking unsure to confident.

"I'm sure. You're my best friend here, why wouldn't I want you along?" She smiled, but it quickly went away as she realized something.

"You said we have until the 26th?" I nodded. "But it's the 12th now, that leaves us with 14 days! And that's if we left today!"

"Yeah, we're leaving Saturday." I said calmly, even though I was slowly realizing how little time we had with this whole thing.

"Saturday?! So you're telling me we have to go to Florida, find a hidden weapon of death, bring it all the way across the country to California and give it back to Hades in _12 days?_"

I nodded solemnly.

"At least we know where we're going." She said, trying to bring up the brighter side. That was just like her, unintentionally make the worst sound worse and then try to make it better.

I nodded again before sighing. "Well, now I have to go ask Leo. Wish me luck!"

"Won't worry, he'll say yes just like he did in your dream." She gave me a smile and patted my shoulder before jogging back to her cabin.

I started toward the Hephaestus cabin, conveniently located next to Apollo's.

I stood on the metal step and knocked on the door. It was nerve-racking waiting.

_Why_ was it nerve-racking?! _Why_ am I so darn_ shy _all of a sudden?

The door opened and in the doorway stood a tall African-American guy with more muscle than seemed humanly possible.

"What do you want?" He demanded in a deep voice and I realized I was staring.

"Oh, um, I'm here to see Leo, Leo Valdez." I said nervous. It had been easy to just walk into the Apollo cabin a minute ago, why was it now so hard to speak to one of Leo's brothers?

Probably because I actually knew the Apollo campers, I'd never been inside the Hephaestus cabin.

"Stay here." He instructed before turning around, walking back into the cabin and shutting the door.

"Eh, Leo!" I heard him shout through the door. "Some chick's here to see you!"

'_Some chick'_? Had he really just called me _'some chick_'? Had he been blocking out everything at camp these last 2 weeks?

There were footsteps and then the door opened again, this time by Leo. He instantly smiled when he saw it was me and shut the door.

"Hey Callie, good to see you're still alive." He joked before becoming serious. "So how deadly and dangerous is your quest?"

"Very, someone's stolen the Staff of Hades and it's my quest to find it and bring it back. We're leaving Saturday and the deadline is the 26th so we've got 12 days to track it down in Florida and then bring it across the country to the Underworld and return it to Hades." I looked at the ground, in case of rejection. "It's gonna be tough, but I was wondering if you'd like to come."

When I looked up I saw that he looked incredibly happy and a bit proud. "I would be honored to go on a quest with the daughter of Artemis, Callie."

I smiled back at him and not knowing what to do next, I nodded. I'd been doing a lot of that today.

"Good. Remember, Saturday morning."

"Will do, see ya later."

"See ya!" I waved and walked back to my cabin, feeling extremely satisfied.

**There we go, guys! I know that the last bit of Callie's quest prophecy was pretty bad, but I just couldn't think of anything else. What do you think is translates out to though? Please leave a review and I'll see you next update! School lets out tomorrow for me, so you can expect updates more often! I probably just jinxed myself.**

**~Clover**


	13. Bad News Guys

Hey guys!

So I have some bad news; my computer is broken. I am currently writing from my brother's laptop because if I turn mine on again there's the chance it might catch fire. Yeah, bad.

So there's going to be a delay in the update of Sucked In and The Forbidden Daughter; since my brother is nice enough to let me post this, but not nice enough to let me write on it. So address all hate mail to him.

I have to wait until my parents' next 'payday' so we can have the money to take it to a computer shop. Hopefully we will be able to get the information off of it or get it fixed, as I have a LOT of stories and story ideas.

Until then!

-Clover


	14. Preparation

**Hey everyone! I am alive over here! Gosh, I've been gone for over a month! I am so sorry! As you all know my computer broke and then my flashdrive broke! All my stories were gone for 2 weeks! I now have a new computer and my old hard drive is in it, so I have all those stories back! All is well in the universe! So enjoy this chapter!**

Friday went by incredibly slowly. No matter what activities I tried to concentrate on, the day just lagged on. Breakfast lasted forever, crafts lasted forever, archery lasted forever, lake activities lasted forever, lunch lasted forever – I think you get the point. It just dragged on. The only mildly interesting thing that had happened that day was the small fight I had with Percy. Don't worry, it was small, there was no punching or any physical harm involved. True, we were both still mad at each other, but overall it had been pretty small.

Percy had assumed I would take him with me to go on the quest. Just assumed it, like it was his choice to decide. Then once I told him he was not going and that I already had my companions picked out and waiting, he began telling me to rethink my idea. What was I thinking, bringing two new demigods on my quest while I was still fairly new myself? Crazy me!

That's not crazy at all, in fact there is nothing wrong with that. We're experienced enough.

But anyway, then we both started arguing. Me constantly saying it was my choice, he had no right to decide, and he saying that I was making a mistake, one he said might end up being fatal. After a while, I stormed off.

Anyways, you probably don't want to hear about my family issues. On to Saturday.

My eyes flashed open in alarm Saturday morning. I had no clue why, there were no loud noises and I didn't remember having any dreams. But I did feel like someone was watching me.

I carefully sat up in bed and looked around the room. And then it just vanished, the presence I had felt. Just like that, without a single audible sound. Since I'm not a fan of creepy things I quickly shook out the thought that there was ever anything there and got up.

I got dressed, tied my hair up, brushed my teeth and then stared into the mirror. My gray eyes stared back at me with just as much boredom as I was staring at them with. My red hair was in a ponytail and I had on plain white t-shirt and some brown shorts. I looked and felt remarkably normal. I hadn't felt like that in a long time.

It is sad that it felt odd?

I grabbed the extra t-shirt Chiron told me to bring and headed for the Big House. I passed multiple people, but they were all headed to the pavilion for breakfast. A part of me felt jealous, they got to relax and not worry about dangerous quests, but the other part saw that they were jealous of me. It was a strange mixture of emotions.

I arrived shortly at the Big House and stepped inside. Andrea was already there and talking to Chiron. She had already claimed one of the three backpacks Chiron had packed. She was wearing a blue tank top, jogging shorts and her bright blue tennis shoes. She looked incredibly normal* too.

"When are we leaving again?" I asked as I slung one of the orange backpacks over my shoulder.

"As soon as Leo gets here." Andrea answered before continuing to talk to Chiron. I began searching through the backpack.

A filled water bottle, 3 MREs*, a map, $100 in cash, a flashlight and my extra t-shirt. Very basic, and honestly not worthy of the big bag it was in. Shouldn't there be some back-up weapon or something more demigodly? This was like a bag you would take hiking, not questing.

Mr. D stumbled through the living room and out the front door towards the pavilion. I wonder if he was drunk, or hungover. Can gods get hungover? Heck, can they get drunk?

After he stumbled out the door, Annabeth walked in. I honestly didn't expect her to come, since Percy and I were ticked at each other. She was holding something, but she was covering it with her hand so I couldn't tell what it was.

"Good morning." She said as she came over to me.

"Morning." I said, not very enthusiastically.

"Percy and I were thinking," Oh great, Percy, "that since you only had your bow, you'd need something for close combat." She held out her hand and in it rested a silver knife. "It belonged to deceased hunter of Artemis. We thought it was only fitting for you to have it."

It was beautiful, the knife. It was about a foot long and was pure silver. Etched into the handle was the word ελευθερία. _Freedom._

"Wow," Was all I could get out. I still had doubts that Percy had anything to do with it though. "Thanks Annabeth."

She smiled as I took it from her. "Percy was suggested it actually. It's been sitting in the Athena weapon shed for years. I don't remember when it got there." If it was Percy's idea, then why didn't he give it to me himself?

"Well, tell him I said thanks." I said insincerely.

"Good Luck." She said as she hurried out. I sat down on the couch and began inspecting the knife. It was then that I noticed the tag attached to it.

_Good Luck, cuz. _

That's it. No 'I'm sorry', just 'good luck'. He didn't even come tell me in person. There's a good chance Annabeth wrote this.

Even though I threw all these thoughts of doubt at it, I found myself smiling at the note. _Why? _You may be asking. That's a very good question, too bad I don't have much of an answer.

It was comforting, okay? I don't know how, I don't know why. It just was. It was lacking emotion, yes, but it was comforting. Can we drop the subject now?

I stuck the note in my pocket and the knife (sheathed, of course) through a belt loop.

Leo finally came through the door 5 minutes later, blaming his tardiness on his 'malfunctioning room'. The Hephaestus cabin had individual rooms? No fair.

"Well, let's go." I said once we were all ready. With that, we headed out the door.

**Alrighty, well sorry it's so short guys. I will update sooner this time, I promise! I should really stop that, as I totally jinked myself last time…**

**-Clover  
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**1****st**** *: If you're wondering why she kept saying that she and Andrea looked so normal is because they're demigods. They're anything but normal.**

**2****nd**** *: For those of you who don't know, MRE stands for Meals Ready to Eat. My dad has a lot of them, they're actually pretty good.**


	15. I am a terrible person and I know it

I LIVE!

Okay guys, if you are going to harass me for being gone for so long, do it now because this is the only time I will allow, accept, and understand that I fully deserve it.

Alright, now that you've done your harassing, let me begin my apology-statement thing.

I am sorry, I really am. I am a horrible person. I suck. I really have no good excuse for not logging on or updating in so long. I just sort of fell out, you know? But I'm back now and I'm ready to finish what I started (and then some).

I hope to have all three of my stories updated by the end of the week.

And to those of you who are still following this story: Thank you for not deleting this story and I sincerely apologize that I failed to keep up.

Also, I plan on editing the chapters a bit, rewriting certain parts to make them better. The changes won't be that big, so you won't have to reread the entire thing (though you might considering it's been a couple of months).

I'll get the updates up as soon as I can!

Loads of love,

Clover


	16. Karen

We were given a ride to the nearest building – a gas station –by Argos. As he drove off Andrea called a taxi company from the payphone there. After finding out that it would cost around $260 to ride a cab to New Jersey, we decided to hitchhike. I know, dangerous (especially for demigods), but we were sure could handle anything thrown at us.

But we didn't expect Karen.

Andrea, Leo and I sat on the concrete steps of the gas station, bored out of our minds. We'd been there for nearly half an hour, waiting for a car to pull in so we could beg for a ride. So far nothing. Stupid fueling saving cars.

10 more minutes later an old black car finally pulled in. It was a bit shady looking, with dark tinted windows and skull stickers on the bumper.

The person who got out of the car was even sketchier.

The woman was in her twenties and looked like she'd refused to stop being a rebellious teenager. She wore a black leather jacket with a small, barely-noticeable _R_ stitched into the hip, a green bandeau, a short leather skirt and combat boots. The usual punk rock look. Especially her hair, which was – no joke – in green dreadlocks. I kid you not._ Green dreadlocks._

None of us made an attempt to get up and ask for a ride.

She fumbled with the buttons on the machine for a minute before walking to the tiny building to pay. She regarded us with an interested look before entering the building.

We all watched her enter the building and turned to look at each other when the door slammed.

"Perfect. The first car since we got here and it belongs to a crazy-looking hippie who decided not to grow out of a teenager." Andrea said, voicing my exact thoughts.

"It's still a ride." Leo said, fiddling with some small, random pieces of machinery he pulled out of his jacket pockets.

"Well if anyone's going to ask, I say Callie should do it!" Andrea instantly turned on me. She ignored the look in my eyes, begging her to shut up. "After all, this your quest."

"I'm pretty sure we can wait a bit longer for someone less shady to stop by."

"We could, but chances are, it might be tomorrow before anyone actually shows up." Leo reasoned, his sight still set on the mess of screws and scrap metal in his palm.

"Fine." I stood up, aggravated and nervous. I waited by the door for the woman to come, and jumped at her when she did. "Excuse me, ma'am?" I said as I trotted behind her, as she hadn't stopped when she past me.

"What?" She called over her shoulder, still not stopping on her way to her beat-up looking car. "I'm not donating anything and I'm not buying anything."

"Oh, no, I was- My friends and I were wondering where you're headed. And if we could maybe get a ride?" Gods, this was dangerous and stupid. How many times had my father told me _not_ to do just this?

The woman finally stopped and turned to face me, a sly smile on her thin face. "Queens." She answered. "That where you need to go?"

"It's in the right direction, yeah." I allowed myself a hopeful smile; maybe that would help my case.

"You guys can squeeze in the back." She granted as she took a swig of her coffee and continued to her car.

•••

I had no idea of where Karen, as we learned her name was, planned on taking us once we got to Queens. We probably should have sorted that out when we'd first got in her car, but we had all remained silent, not wanting to do or say anything wrong and get ourselves kicked out of the car. After a while, I started to assume she would ask where to drop us once we got to the city. But so far, she hadn't.

We looked to be in what many would call the hood area. Twice already people had tried to sell us drugs at a red light. Prostitutes littered the street corners. We'd almost hit a drunk guy. I prayed she didn't take us back to her house and just let us go from there; we'd never make it out alive.

After what seemed like forever Karen pulled the car back into an alleyway. We all three sat up, our hands on our hidden weapons. She suddenly picked up speed at an alarming rate, before jerking the wheel to the left and almost flipping us over. The car shook as the front and back skidded against the walls of the alley.

"What are you doing lady!?" Leo demanded, his hand inside of his backpack waiting to pull out a weapon.

When the car skidded to a halt we were in a strange position. The car had turned to the point where it would completely block anyone coming from the street and would trap anyone against the dead end. Andrea, sitting on the side closest to the street, tugged at the door handle. The door remained shut though, even after she repeated locked and unlocked it.

We then released our weapons; my bow and quiver materialized, Andrea pulled a knife from inside her shirt, and Leo pulled a sword from inside the backpack. It was now extremely cramped, but we had all our weapons ready and aimed at Karen's unturned head.

"Out of the car." She said in a calm but steely voice.

"Not until you tell us who you really are and why we're here!" I demanded, jumping to the conclusion that she was a monster.

"OUT OF THE CAR." Her voice was louder than seemed possible, and when she turned to face us her eyes had become completely green- the same shade of green her skin was slowly turning! Her dreadlocks were becoming thicker and slicker, and the tips shaped themselves into what looked like snake heads.

It's safe to say that the three of us were terrified. We were on our own; three brand new campers who hadn't dealt with a monster like this on our own before. Anyone who could actually help us was miles away at least. This thing could kill us and no one would ever know. And we were _kids_ for gods' sake!

We did what any terrified kid in our situation would do: we climbed over each other trying to get out the door that wasn't magically locked. Once we were all out I looked around and realized just how screwed we were. We were trapped in between Karen- actually Kampê, as I now realized –and a graffiti covered wall. _Why_ didn't I listen to Percy?!

"You demigods are such idiots." Kampê said with a laugh as she got out of the car and rested her crossed arms on its roof. "I must say, I was first disappointed with this job assignment- field work isn't anywhere near as high a position as head jailer –but now that I'm out here I'll admit it's pretty fun! And the best part is, I don't have to bring you back alive! 'Take them out before they get anywhere' she said, 'killing them would be your best choice of action'. She actually said that!"

We just stood in silence, unsure of pretty much everything.

She flashed a wide smile that showed off her vampire-esk teeth and suddenly jumped and slid over the car roof, a scimitar in her hand as she landed on the other side.

"I have been wanting to kill a demigod for _such_ a long time now-" She stopped short of finishing her sentence as a knife was suddenly embedded in her forehead. I looked behind me and saw Andrea now empty handed.

"No…" Kampê angrily pulled the knife out of her forehead and chucked it in our direction. "No!" She glared at us with pure hatred as she tried to stop the green goo bleeding out of her forehead. "I cannot go like this, NO!" She screamed a string of swear words at us and then charged in our direction with her sword leading the way. But we ducked around her slowly dissolving body with ease.

After her body turned completely to dust and began blowing away, we headed back out onto the street without a word. I considered thanking Andrea for coming to her senses and doing what we should have done in the first place while Leo and I were petrified. But I decided against it, for obvious reasons.

"Alright," I finally said, breaking the silence as the sun continued its descend and we continued our hike. "Let's try to get out of here by dark."

It was going to be a long night.


End file.
